Scam Alert: Phony Online Puppy Sales Bite the Unwary.

Cynthia Alvarez saved all year to surprise her husband, Julio, with the Christmas gift he always wanted: an English bulldog puppy. "The problem is," says the San Jose, Calif., resident, "a purebred with papers from a breeder around here costs over $2,500."

So last Dec. 20, she turned to the Internet in search of a less expensive pooch. Alvarez thought she'd found one at the now-defunct Worldpupz.com, a website supposedly run by Dr. Don Anderson, a self-described "owner and breeder of English bulldogs."

"Many puppies were available, but I fell in love with Borman, who cost only $1,000," says Alvarez, a customer service rep. "I immediately e-mailed Dr. Anderson."

Within hours, she got an e-mail reply: Borman, 8 weeks 4 days old, was available. He loved kids and other animals. He should be fed high-quality food. He'd be flown on Continental Airlines within 24 hours after payment was wired.

As instructed, Alvarez wired the money to Ashtabula, Ohio. A day later "Anderson" e-mailed for an additional $350 for Borman's flight shipping crate. Two days later, he requested $250 more "to fill out papers at the airport."

Alvarez wired a total of $1,600, but Christmas came and went—with no puppy. "I felt robbed," says Alvarez, who never got her money back.

In the world of puppy swindles, phony websites are usually taken down after a few months, and new ones go up, sites like 2007puppieshome.com, operated by "Dave G." It contains some of the same photos and text found on the website that deceived Alvarez. Posing as a potential buyer, Scam Alert exchanged numerous e-mails with "Dave," who wrote that "Borman is available" (and apparently still 8 weeks 4 days old). Dave G.'s phone number proved to be false.

These defrauders use stolen credit cards to buy website domains with names like Puppylast.com and Lovelypetz.com and to buy newspaper ads. Sandra Titus, who works for a newspaper chain based in Portsmouth, N.H., says three to five puppy ads are submitted a week. "We spot them as fake because the ads come from across the country, and we keep seeing the same pictures of the same dogs, over and over."

Meanwhile, the real Don Anderson, 73, who breeds only rare Carolina dogs, placed a warning on his kennel's website after Scam Alert notified him that his identity and information on his site had been stolen.

How can you safely buy a dog online?

* If you want a certain breed, contact a local breed club for legitimate dealers in your area.

* Call the seller. Legitimate online breeders post traceable phone numbers and addresses. You can check the information via directories such as www.whitepages.com.

* Have the sellers send a photo of the dog next to a sign with your name and the date on it, to verify that they have the animal they advertised.

* Never wire money to purchase a puppy — or any other item — on the Internet. Pay by credit card, since most cards have fraud protection policies.

* Be aware that e-mails sent via yahoo.com or hotmail.com are often used by scammers because they're free and don't require identity verification.

If you think you've been bitten in a puppy scam, contact your state attorney general or local Better Business Bureau.

Sid Kirchheimer is the author of AARP/Sterling's Scam-Proof Your Life.